SplodgeKat's Journal (A Minecraft Story)
by Hollz100
Summary: You. You are a lone wanderer lost in the desolate wastelands of Minecraft... The realm no one dares go for fear of their life. But it is here in the darkness you come across a strange, ancient book. The tale this book holds is more than you can handle, how will you cope with the fear?
1. Intro & Chapter 1

**Intro**

It's a cold, gloomy day in the Minecraft world, a thick, misty fog hangs over the grassy savannah like a frozen blanket. There is no wind. No light breeze. Just the cloudy mist and the faint sound of your own rapid breathing. What was that? Is there someone out there? Someone stalking you in the darkness, lurking in the shadows and waiting to strike... You've never been here before; no one has. The savannah is filled with witches and tales of death, only the most foolish travellers wander into it's smoky clutches. No turning back. This is it. Press on or allow the strange, surreal fog to engulf you and throw you into death's hands. There used to be a town here many years ago, that's what the legend says.

A small village with few inhabitants... Inhabitants that just disappeared. Castles and houses that just crumbled away and faded into time as a figment of imagination. What happened here?It doesn't matter. Death. Death is what happens here and nothing else. What's that in the distance? A tiny light in the darkness... They say never go towards the light, but right now it is your only refuge, your only glimmer of hope seeping through the cracks of an icy grip. You move towards it. Walking. Running. Sprinting. You're inside. Is it safe? It's quiet... too quiet. You hear a distant dripping but stay within the light's radius, but where is it coming from? Turning around you see a small golden ray slithering through a gap in the damp, stone wall. A gap big enough to fit through. You worm your way through, finding the light to be nothing more than the dull, luminous glow of a lava pit.

With a heavy sigh you almost give up hope... almost. You see what appears to be a book, tattered and worn, hiding beneath a layer of dust and webs in the corner of the small cavern. Has someone been here? Impossible. You dismiss any such thoughts yet your curiosity swallows you up, forcing you to go and look at the small item. Once closer you see "SplodgeKat's Journal" scrawled on the front of the wrinkled brown leather in dark black ink. You have never heard of this SplodgeKat but decide to hear her tale, the book releasing a quiet creak as the leather stretches back to allow the book to open for the first time in what looks like centuries. You cough and splutter as you reach the first page, dust accumulating and shooting for your mouth like little torpedoes, making their way down your throat and into your empty lungs. The air in here is humid and warm from the lava but you do not complain. You seek comfort in it's radiating heat. With a swift breath you blow the dust from the page, the inside cover displaying "The Story of My Adventures" in more black ink. Your gaze dismisses this and flutters to the first page, a thin, crinkled, tan piece of paper with neat black calligraphy coating almost every inch. You focus your gaze and read the first line...

**Chapter One**

_"Day One:_

_Yesterday was my 16th birthday and I was finally noticed as an adolescent amongst the elders. The customs of our tribe state that once one turns 16 they are eligible to go out and see the world. So, being one for adventure, that is exactly what I did and here I am on my way to a new, mysterious land full of epic feats and immense perils. I shall be keeping this journal with me the whole time with the intent of recording my journey every now and then. Excitement awaits, and I can feel an adventure ahead."_

You think to yourself now, pausing to glare at the mossy cobblestone walls surrounding you. Was this SplodgeKat a real person? No. It can't be. They say this land has always been empty, ever since... since the village. Was SplodgeKat one of it's inhabitants? Again, no. They probably didn't even know how to read and write back then.

You are confused now and can do nothing but stare across the pool of lava into the emptiness of your own lonesome company. Will you die here? This can't be it... you're only young and have every intention of leaving this place, but what can you do? What can you do but sit and wait as time slowly passes by and your isolation swallows you whole, spitting you back into the darkness a crazed and lost traveller.

Well if you are going to die here, you might as well make the most of your time with some more reading. You flick through the crusty pages to notice that there seems to be a change of handwriting a little later on. It's as if the book was passed down or simply something was copied? Wait. You're perceptive emerald eyes catch the torn edges of the page. These pages were ripped out and placed neatly in-between the book's original pages... someone else's journal perhaps?

You ignore it for now and flick back to the beginning, eyes searching frantically for the next entry.

_"Day Eight: "_


	2. Chapter 2

_"Day Eight:_

_The village is great. In fact, it's much more than I could have hoped for. The people are great and already I've settled in with some new friends. Eathuis, Hollz100 and I all work on the farm and we have so much fun during the day, but I notice that they get a little...nervous, at night. As soon as it gets dark, they throw down their hoes and go inside. What could be so bothersome about the dark? Back home I used to love the way the luminescent moon shone down onto the grass, the light reflecting off of each glistening bead of dew clinging for dear life to the crisp blades. Suddenly, I've started to miss home. Miss the elders that once frowned down on me with such an indestructible hatred for the runt in the litter, so to speak._

_I promised myself to only spend a week here but my curiosity gets the better of me... I know that I should leave, my gut twisting with the unmistakable feeling of fear and concern, yet my illogical conscience tells me to stay, to find out more on this village's strange inhabitants. Thus, I have decided. I shall stay."_

Suddenly, you are drawn into the story, caressing the rigid pages, leaning in so close to the suspense that your face is almost touching. Your hand reaches to turn the page to the next entry but a folded piece of paper stuck in the spine catches your attention. Opening it reveals the same neat writing in the same neat black ink, yet there is something unfamiliar about it. Something...different. It's surprising that moths don't flutter out of it as an ocean of dust cascades from the creases and folds, floating towards the thin, auburn smoke radiating from the 3-block deep pool besides you. The dull, grey particles glide ceaselessly across the external layer of lava, some making it across and following the convection currents upwards whilst others got sucked into the heat, sizzling as they sunk to their inevitable demise.

_"Night Eight: _

_I know I don't usually give night updates, but something weird is happening. I often hear noises outside, by the sheep pen, but I was always too tired to check or Emilee_2 in the bed besides me would assure me that it was nothing. Well. Tonight I decided to investigate. The loud rattling from the wind blowing the pen's gate muffled it, but I could still hear the faint sounds of footsteps -multiple footsteps- and what can only be described as a lion struggling to breathe. In the darkness of the night, I opened the birch door that stood between me and the outside world. It had once seemed peaceful out there...serene._

_I dreaded nights now, but I had never been so scared of it as tonight. Opening the old, creaky door had been easy, but the next part wasn't. Hollz100's house was across the way but it was now shrouded by the midnight mist, buried in the dark abyss in which I used to find solace and now only found dread and despair. All I remember from the journey over was the sudden, vigorous breeze and the soft pounding of my feet on the sand as I bolted to Hollz100's door. Before I knew it, I was inside. I'd been in this house before and knew where her bedroom was, but I was too afraid to move. Sand had been pushed inside by the gust of wind that seemed to try and whisk me up and swallow me whole. The sound of my breathing should have been enough to wake her, if not, then the slam of the double-doors should have done the trick but then I heard...nothing. No noise. Not even the sound of my heart thumping against my chest in the deafening silence._

_My eyes slowly rolled to the right, looking through the empty kitchen, into the empty bedroom, containing the empty bed. There was no one here." _


	3. Chapter 3

Shaking your head in confusion and disbelief, you turn the page, the book letting out the familiar moan that came with it's old age. Each time, you made more creases in the book's spine, the sound breaking the calm, stillness of the cavern, echoing and bouncing off the archaic stone. As per usual, you begin reading.

_"Night 10:_

_I can't escape. -"_

The ancient diary slams shut as it falls from the comfort of your lap and slides on the gravel, settling only a block away from the sizzling cesspit besides you. But what caused the sudden chain of reactions that had made you dart to your feet and pull out your sword? The same thing that you'd been scared of since you arrived. The zombie's groan had only been outside the cavern; It's disfigured shadow clearly visible through the crack in the stone which had served as an entrance. You can see it now, peering through the gap like a lost child seeking his parents, only, this child was out for blood.

Your vision blurs at the sudden realization of the dozen other creatures behind it, ranging from zombies, to spiders, to skeletons and even the purple haze of a witch. The obscured view of your sleek, hand-made, iron sword gives you some reprieve yet you know that no amount of comfort can aid in the extermination of a small army by one little human. You come to this decision all too late, the demons already oozing through the slot, advancing towards you.

In one swift moment, you gather your bearings, switching to autopilot. You feel your body spin on your heels and search for an exit before you even realise that the book is tucked neatly under your other arm. It's your turn now. Autopilot can no longer help you. A dark looking hole in the ground is only blocks away...but so is the horde of undead. Too late to decide, your legs have chosen for you, erratically pushing you to the limit as you skid on the gravel, your body shooting back into a horizontal position as you slide on the last block and into the hole. It was almost fun. Almost.

Water? You find yourself surrounded in it yet the black view is too overwhelming and you struggle to get to your feet once more. Viscous, black sludge seems to hold you in place as it trickles past. The distant echoing of the mobs does not worry you anymore, or maybe you no longer care. The bottom of your feet are numb and scratched. Your worn, leather boots faded from their weeks of use. You need some light, some warmth, some company... Suddenly you begin to miss the lava-lit cavern. The book. Where is it? It must have slipped from the sweaty hold you had on it only moments ago and now you panic. Any sane human would be worrying in the circumstance of current events but the reality of it had only just set in with the epiphany that you were completely, and utterly alone. The virtual world you'd been living in up until now had not been much different, but for the ideal that the book kept you company and you were able to walk outside whenever you wanted and escape from it all. Alternatively, the lava had offered another form of escape.

So now you find yourself lost, alone and cold; You've been trudging relentlessly in the mines, following a shallow stream of cool, crystal water that has taken all feeling from your feet, chilling you to the bone. You are not oblivious to the gradual decrease in your pace, but contemplate whether there is any hurry to move along anyway. Your mind wanders back to the book, trying to conjure up some idea of where it may now lay. If you do not find it, the book will be lost forever, crumbling with the façade of life and succumbing to the delicate frame of time. Time. Another seemingly material thing that used to mean something. Now, it's just a meaningless notion. A remnant of your past that's faded away into the unreachable grasp of your former self. And yet, time is all you have.

You are seeing things now, imagining a small *clink* from your frozen feet; The sound of ice shards touching the smooth concrete blocks beneath you, shattering with each step and forming a serenade of imaginary instruments, filling the lonesome emptiness with frozen music. You keep thinking you see people of your past, only to remember that they are long gone and are simply forgotten reminders of your old life. All hope is almost gone, though you believe you left all hope back at the border of the dusty savannah. Why did you keep going? Why didn't you just go home to your dull, miserable existence and stop taking it for granted? You are reminding yourself of this SplodgeKat. Would it have been better if you'd stayed, or would your pathetic mortal life just have continued from day to day, waking up, eating, working, eating, sleeping, eating...You'd told yourself there must have been something more. Clearly you were wrong.

Just then, a light sped past, it's owner blurred and disfigured by the flurry of haste and confusion but you catch something. Something of interest. Something resembling a book, with thin, familiar ebony text handwritten onto the cover. Without hesitation, you were tangled in the chase. But as you sprint towards the fading light you ask yourself; Is the book worth the hunt?


End file.
